Becoming the Enemy
by ZhioN360
Summary: What if the Water Sword was not the only thing capable of slaying the Dahaka? What if there was another, more powerful weapon that could change the entire course of history if ever used? And what if the Prince found it?-- AU thingy, please review!
1. Unsettling News

"Fool!"

The Old Man could not believe his ears.

"My friend, I must go", replied the Prince, "If I do not, I will not survive. Even now the Dahaka hunts for me, I know it."

The Old Man picked up a highly ornate pipe and sucked on its end, releasing sweet-scented smoke into the tight air of the tent he sat in. The Prince leaned against one of the support bars, weary from the fatigue of outrunning the predator.

"The Island of Time is a dangerous place", said the Old Man, "And the Empress does not take well to the world of men."

"Which is why I need your help", replied the Prince, "If there is a way to undo what I have done, I will do everything in my power to bring it about."

The Old Man shouted, "Amir! You know full well you cannot change your fate! What is done is done!"

The Prince knelt now, grabbing the Old Man by his frail and ancient hand, and pleaded, "Is there a way?"

The Old Man pulled away his hand and took another puff on the pipe. "There is…"

The Prince grew excited. It was as if this small bit of hope was enough to refresh his broken spirit and give him the energy to finish his task.

"…On the Island, there are said to be many relics of power; things which were lost to man many centuries ago. Two of these are said to have the power to face up to, and even kill the Dahaka."

"What are they, my friend?" asked the Prince.

"The first is difficult to find. No man has ever managed to procure it, and even the Empress of Time herself knows not of its location. It is said to be able to kill the Dahaka, but leave a great hole within the soul of he who wields it… the Water Sword."

The Prince nodded in acknowledgement. The name was strange and surprisingly simple, and yet it supposedly held the power to stop an immortal beast. "And the second?" he asked.

"The second is a mask, one of many on the island", replied the Old Man, "It bears great markings, but carries no name. I warn you of this, Amir. It contains untold power, greater than even the Water Sword's."

The Prince grew afraid now, unsure of what he would next hear.

"It…" the Old Man coughed, "…it contains no power on its own. But, if worn and you are consumed by the beast that chases you, you will become him."

The Prince's eyes grew wide in shock. "_Become _the Dahaka?"

The Old Man nodded slowly and took another puff on the pipe, more pink smoke filling the air. "With the power of the Dahaka at your disposal, there will be none to stop you from doing as you please, and your endless chase will be over."

The Prince tried to comprehend the gravity of what he'd just been told. Becoming the very thing that hunted him was not something that the Prince even thought possible, let alone considered.

He stood up and stretched out an arm against the support beam. "I will travel to the Island of Time and prevent the Sands from ever being made. If there are no sands, the Dahaka will have no quarrel with me."

"Go then, Prince", replied the Old Man, "But know this: Your journey will not end well.

You cannot change your fate. No man can…"

The Prince thought back to this conversation now as he ran through a narrow stone corridor. The Dahaka's tendrils pierced through the walls on either side of him, just missing him as he passed.

The creature had found him yet again, now on the Island of Time. The beast always seemed to know where he was, and it annoyed the Prince greatly. He strengthened his mental focus, preparing to rewind time should the monster grab a hold of him.

He jumped down an open hole in the floor, just big enough for one man, and found himself sliding into a pool of stagnant water. The Dahaka brought his massive head over the hole and howled in rage as he slammed the floor with an obsidian fist. The Prince stared him down defiantly, happy for the water beneath his feet. He automatically felt the golden disc that sat in the middle of his breastplate. It was the first piece of the mask, the one the Old Man had mentioned, and it contained the ability to release the Water Sword, should he manage to lengthen his life nine times.

_Was it possible? Could a man actually _become _the Dahaka?_

Whichever way the Prince chose to remove his enemy from existence, this small piece of gold was vital. It was also the only thing binding him to the Sands of Time since he'd given up the Dagger…

The Dahaka left in a fit of anger, roaring all the way. Once the Prince could no longer hear him, he climbed out of the hole and stood erect, surveying the area before him. Much of the Island was broken and destroyed, and weeds and vines had overgrown and overtaken everything. He pondered now, deciding which weapon he would use to overcome the Dahaka and how much time he truly had left to get it…


	2. Desperate Errand

Kaileena had grown intrigued.

She'd foreseen the Prince's arrival on the island a few months ago, but she'd foreseen something else as well. Despite her pet's, the Dahaka's, inability to kill him, she knew the Prince would die in the end. It was his fate from the moment he'd opened up the Hourglass.

The immortal beast now sat behind her and appeared to be sulking an odd and uncomfortable way. Kaileena had called him here, and it seemed he did not like interruptions during one of his hunts.

"You failed to get him again", she said.

The Dahaka grunted absently.

"You must destroy him, my pet. His existence is a threat to us, you know that", she reminded the unstoppable guardian, "And he hunts you in a way as well. I have seen his intent. His mind is clouded and unclear, but he has leanings, leanings toward the mask. He hopes to obtain it and steal your power."

The Dahaka stood up, almost twice the Empress's size, as if in defiance. He evidently did not see that happening.

"Do not grow arrogant", she whispered seductively, "Shahdee presumed she could stop him before he reached the island. She's lies dead now."

The Dahaka grunted again, as if to remind the Empress of his immortality. He would not let this insignificant human get the better of him. He could assure her of that.

"He sits in one of the ruined temples on the south of the island. If he moves and you cannot find his location, you know what to do."

The obsidian hunter said nothing, and within seconds he'd teleported away using the powers of the dark sands he possessed. Kaileena smiled. She'd seen many variations in how this scenario turned out, alternate realities if they could be called that. In one of them the Prince even managed to obtain the Water Sword and slew the Dahaka. And this is what she feared: she feared that this Prince of Persia would indeed have his way, and that he would defeat the Dahaka, the greatest weapon in her arsenal. If that happened, she would be virtually defenseless and the Sands would return to her.

"You're being a fool", she told herself.

The Prince would have to defeat three demons if he hoped to obtain the mask he sought so desperately, not to mention the ever present threat of the Dahaka. No, he would not survive. He would not change his fate…

***

The Dahaka crashed through the forest around him. He'd reached the temple Kaileena spoke of, but the Prince had already left. This was becoming annoying. Finding his prey was always the most difficult part of the hunt for the Dahaka. Despite his vast power over the Sands of Time, he could not locate people as the Empress could, which never did make sense to him as a hunter.

Instead, the Empress had given the ability to locate anyone from any time to another of her precious creatures, one who was only accessible through the realm of the mind. He was the one the Dahaka went to whenever he needed to find his prey and he was the one who told the Dahaka if anyone had opened the Hourglass.

The grim hunter needed to see him now. He sat on a flat patch of ash and crossed his enormous legs, an unusual pose for such a dynamic creature. He closed his white-hot eyes and freed his mind.

It was in his head that the Dahaka felt the most free. It was here that he could take the form he forsook so long ago: his mortal one. In his mind he was a man, like any other, someone who did not possess sand powers or hunger for blood. He walked within the dark of the mental realm, searching for the man who knew the timeline.

"Falak", he said as he found the man he sought.

"Dahaka", replied the frail old man. He was bald, wrapped in red and white silk and peering into a lengthy column of sand before him. The column was the timeline, that which he watched so diligently. "You seek the Prince."

"Indeed", replied the Dahaka, "He is not where Kaileena said he would be."

"He goes for the second piece of the mask as we speak", said Falak, "He seeks Bahamut…"

"The winged demon…" said the Dahaka, as if finishing Falak's sentence, "I know where he sleeps."

Falak turned to him. "Then go! Do not waste time here, regardless of how much control you have over it. The Prince is almost there, and the winged demon will wake soon."

The Dahaka nodded and, regretfully leaving his human self behind, slipped out of the black of his mind. His glowing white eyes reopened and he stood up again, back in the real world. He had to get to the Bahamut; he had to get to the Prince…


	3. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The Prince ran around the corner in a fit of panic. His chest heaved heavily as he breathed deeply, trying to keep himself calm and able to run at the same time.

_Too much running. I've done far too much running lately…_

Behind him crashed the enormous Bahamut, a creature larger than the Dahaka with the armoured face of a typical dragon. To the Prince his teeth seemed to be made entirely of flame, and there, in the center of his chest, sat the next piece of the mask.

_As if it couldn't stay any closer to its guardian_, thought the Prince as he glanced back at the massive demon hunting him down.

Up ahead was an enormous gap in the room, one which no man cross in a single bound. But the Prince had planned for this. He'd tied a strong piece of cord to the pommel of one of his blades before he came here, hoping to use it as a swing line in just such a situation.

He pulled the blade out now, panting heavily and frantically, and flung it into a crumbling, stone pillar on the other side of the gap. Thankfully, it pegged in; the rock on this island seemed to be relatively soft. He jumped in an instant where time seemed to stand still, something that was not a result of the Prince using his abilities.

No, it was a sense of life and death on the horizon. Unfortunately for the Prince, it always seemed to be more death than life. He swung across the gap, looking back and hoping to see the anger on his enemy's face and knowing that the beast could never reach him now. Yet again, hope failed the battered and solemn Prince; the demon also jumped the gap with an ear-shattering roar, spreading an even larger set of stone-like wings.

"It flies!" cried the Prince, turning back to the wall in front of him.

He slammed against the side of the gap and began climbing up, his bleeding and red fingers screaming in pain against the effort. The Bahamut was practically on top of him. The Prince focused his mind and channeled the power of the Sands, slowing down time to a virtual halt.

It was just what he needed. As soon as he reached the top of the gap, his power released and time returned to normal. The Bahamut landed just short of the other side and fell into the gap, also slamming against the hard rock wall.

The Prince pulled his blade out of the pillar and carried on running, hoping to get to a better vantage point on which to steal the second piece of the mask. He was beginning to wonder if the Water Sword was not a better option.

_Have to make it, have to get to an open place. _

He rushed into yet another corridor on the far end of the room and turned a corner. He faced a set of traps and nimbly tried to evade them, the blades sometimes cutting millimeters into his flesh, willing him to remain in their deathly grasp. He came out the other side alright, only to find the Bahamut right behind him…

The creature had escaped the gap thanks to its wings and now crashed through the traps as though they were made of parchment. The Prince's eyes grew wide in horror.

"This is ridiculous!"

He turned another corner, a cloud of flame following him from the Bahamut's mouth, only to sense a rather familiar presence.

"No, no, not now. Not. Now!"

His vision darkened and turned a rather depressing sepia colour. Black sand particles floated gently in front of his face, and time seemed to slow somewhat. He looked ahead of him to see the true monster, the immortal one who'd hunted him these last few months.

"The Dahaka…"

The invincible guardian stood ready, his black vines ripping through the walls next to him, preparing to finally destroy his prey. The Bahamut turned the same corner that the Prince just had, a heavy amount of flame seething through his stony jaws.

With the Dahaka in front of him and the Bahamut behind him, the Prince felt a shiver of cold shoot up his spine and remembered what a friend had told him:

_You cannot change your fate…_

**All of the OC names I've used in the story (such as the Bahamut and Falak) are names of actual monsters in ancient Persian mythology (just in case you were wondering ;P)**


End file.
